Trailer stub pole surge brake



March 8, 1949.` c. B. RlcHEY TRAILER STUB POLE SURGE BRAKE 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed MaIOh '7, 1946 INVENTOR. 6. E. E/WEY March s, 1949. VC, a @CHE-Y 2,463,716

TRAILER STUB POLE SU RGE BRAKE Filed March 7',4 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. CLAQENcE B. ,Q1 cHEY BY Patented Mar. 8, 1949 TRAILER STUB POLE SURGE BRAKE Clarence B. Richey, Quincy, Ill., assigner tolElec-` tric WheelvCompany, Quincy,.Ill., a corporation lof Illinois Application March 7, 1946, SerialNo. 652,548'

8 Claims; 1

The present invention'relates toa stub-pole surge brake which is automatically operated by its connection to the tractor and has for its objects providing a device ofthe character which isI `simple, safe, light and efficient, and easily manufactured atlow cost.

An object ofv my inventionisv to provide an adjustable-stop to prevent application of the trailer brake by light reverse forcey such a-s is caused by suddenly closing the throttle of the towing vehicle.

A further object of my invention is to provide a manually operatedllock-out pin to'provide for backing the trailer without engaging the trailer brakes.

Another objectvof m-y invention is toprovide a manually operated lever having a connection to a cushion springgwhich holds the lever in its normal non-operating position or in its Abrake operating position, the spring also acting to yieldingly resist the forward movement of the sliding or hitch member on'the-stub pole.

A'still further object of my invention is to pro-- vide for an automatic application oi the brakes if the trailer breaks -loose from the towing Vehicle.'

It will be seen from the above preamble that my surge brake is all inclusive because itprovides all desirable operating features and is therefore safe and reliable,

To these and other useful ends my invention consists ofparts, combination of parts, or their equivalents and mode of operation as hereinafter described and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figi is an elevational side viewof a fraction of `a stub pole equipped withimy invention.

Fig. 2Wis a top viewof the device as shown in Figure l.

Fig. 3 is a front view ofthe device as viewed from line 3--3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is aside' elevational view of my imn proved hitch bar attached to a trailer and tractor and illustrating the connection to the brakes en the trailer.

As thus illustrated' the Vstub pole isl designated by reference numeral I, the rear end of which is cut-away and is adapted to be secured to the trailer. The sliding member Il is adapted to be hitched to the tractor or pulling vehicle. Member l l is positioned betweenfthe flanges of member lil as illustrated in Figure 3. Members lll and Il are preferably channel irons as shown.

(Cl. 18S-142) i3 are provided withlnuts-4 I5, thus. when these nuts are madeI-taut-lmember Ilv will. be held.y to

member IB but left freestomove longitudinally.`

When there is no pull on memberfl l .an opening l is held in alignment with a pin I'l.` This pin extends through the top ofbracket vI8 and.

through an -opening inmember I0 and being pivcted at its top to an L-shaped leverA I'S as at. 72D.y

A spring 2l rests on a Washer 22 which is sev cured to pin |l,'thus normally pin Il will be held in the positionfshown in-Figure 1.x An. opening 23 is provided'inlthe bottom of-member I9 and having preferably arlink or arope secured thereto which extends-to within reach` of the tractor operator, thus if the operator wishes tov back the trailer without engaging the brake he first pulls on the link so as vto move member I9. far enough to release pin l1 so the spring-will.

force this pin into opening I6,` thus to lock member i l and permit backing the trailer without engaging the brakes on the trailer.

Members iE! and Il? are preferably inverted U- shaped channels. The flanges of member I are preferably welded to depending plates 25-25. A

U-shaped bracket 261 vis welded to member l l` (see` in members 35. A lever 361=is securedto an end.

of shaft 3l, the lever extending downwardly from shaft 31 and having an opening 38 to which a ropeB-Q is secured, the rope-extending forward and being -secured to the tractor acts to engage the brakes on the trailer Kin case member ll becomes detached from the'tractor as will hereinafter appear.

A rearwardly extendingarm 4U' is secured to shaft 3l. A pair of U-shaped links 4I 'are at their rear ends pivotally connected'to member 4Qv as at d2. nected to the rear endfof spring 21 by means of a bolt 43; thus-when lever 36 fisv in `the position shown in Figure l the spring will act tohold the lever in this .position because the plane of pivots* 42 and 43 is above shaftl'; This position of the lever is normal.' If the upper end'of 'the lever-fis moved rearwardly far'. v'enoughto move theplane The front ends'of members 4l are con of pivots 42 and 43 below shaft 31 it will be held in this position by spring 21 and cause the brakes to be engaged as will hereinafter appear.

Depending bracket-s 45-45 are secured to opposite sides of member I and a lever 46 is pivoted to these brackets as at 41. A link 48 is preferably forked and pivoted to member 46 as at 49. A rod G is preferably adjustably secured to member 48 and is at its rear end secured to the brake mechanism of the trailer. A pair of links 5l are pivoted to members 4| as at 52, the rear end 'being slotted as at 53 through which bolt 46 slidably extends. Thus it will be seen that if the upper end of lever 36 is moved rearwardly either by the pull of rope 39 or manually, rod 5U will be moved forward and cause the brakes to be engaged and when engaged spring 21, because of the position of pivots 42 and 43, will hold the brakes in engagement. Generally before the trailer is detached from the tractor the operator moves lever 36 so as to engage the brakes.v

I provide novel and adjustable means for engaging the brakes when member I moves forward relative to member i l because of a forward surge of the trailer. A plate 54 is secured to the rear end of member I'l and normally the upper end of lever 46 rests against this plate, thus clearly when member Il moves rearwardly far enough the brakes will be engaged. This movement is provided for by slot 53 when the upper end of lever 36 is in its forward position.

It is not desirable to apply the brakes on a trailer every time there is a slight forward surge of the trailer. To prevent this and provide means whereby one can determine how much of a forward surge of the trailer will apply the brakes, I provide a toggle joint mechanism having a forward link 55 and a rear link 55, the links being pivoted together at their inner ends at 5l, the forward link at its forward end being pivoted to the upper end of lever 46 as at 58. Link 56 is pivoted to member I0 as at 59, this link having considerable width at its rear end and is secured to a pull spring 6] as at 6l, the pull spring being anchored to an eye-bolt 62 which extends through a bracket 63 on member I0 and having a nut Gli whereby the tension of spring 6U may be adjusted. Links 55 and 56 are held in an adjusted position by means of a bolt 55 having a lock nut 56. It will be seen that pivot 51 may be held somewhat below the plane of pivots 58 and 59 by bolt 65 andthe pressure required to operate the toggle joint and the brake may be determined by the position of this bolt and the tension of spring 60.

It will be seen that mild forward surges of the trailer against member Il will not engage the brakes and that the operator can adjust the toggle joint and co-ntrol the point at which the brakes are to be engaged by a forward surge.

Clearly spring 21 will hold member H in its normal working position but permit this member to move forward against spring tension and since member 26 is not -secured to eye-bolt 28 member Il is free to move rearwardly relative to member lil by overcoming the pressure of the toggle joint, thus to apply the brake when there is an abnormal forward surge of the trailer. For example in going down a steep incline in the road. In normal traveling however there will be no rearward movement of member Il relative to member l0.

When in a standing position if the operator should back the tractor this movement might conceivably operate the toggle joint and engage the brakes. To prevent this, lever I'9 is moved so pin l1 is forced into opening I6 by spring 2 l. Spring 21 is used to firmly hold lever 36 in its forward or rearward position and it may be used to more firmly prevent the forward movement of member Il relative to member I6 by tightening nut 29.

Thus it will be seen that even though my device is simple, easily understood and easily operated or adjusted it is what might be called an all inclusive surge 'brake because every necessary operation of such a device for the safety and convenience of the driver is provided for.

Clearly many minor detailed changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as recited in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A pulling vehicle and a trailer having a brake mechanism in combination, a stub pole, a forwardly extending hitch member slidably mounted on said stub pole adapted at its front en-d to be attached to the pulling vehicle, a toggle joint rotatably mounted at its rear end to the stub pole and at it-s front end to a connection leading to said brake mechanism, a spring anchored to said stub pole and to the toggle joint adapted to urge the toggle joint toward a lengthened position, adjustable means on said stub pole adapted to determine the lengthened position of the toggle joint, whereby a predetermined forward surge pressure of the trailer will release said toggle joint and operate said brake mechanism.

2. A device as recited in claim l including, a manually operated stop mounted on said stub pole having means whereby the operator may cause the stop to engage said hitch member and thereby make the brake operating means inactive.

3. A device as recited in claim l including, a stop on said stub pole, a cushion spring having a bolt secured to its front end which extends through a plate, adapted to lay on said stop, a bracket secured to said hitch member and adapted to lie against the rear of said plate whereby the hitch member is free to move rearwardly relative to the stub pole and forwardly by overcoming the pull of said cushion spring.

4. A device as recited in claim 1 including, a cushion spring its front end being pivotally anchored to the front end of said stub pole, brackets secured to the sides of said stub pole having rotatably mounted in the lower ends thereof a shaft, a rearwardly extending plate secured to said shaft, U-shaped members positioned on opposite sides of the lever, their rear ends being pivoted to the rear end of said last plate and their front ends being anchored to said cushion spring, the pivotal mountings of said U--shaped members being positioned whereby the plane of the pivots will be above said shaft when the upper end of the lever is moved forward and below said shaft when the upper end of the lever is moved rearwardly, thus to yieldingly hold the lever in either position, a pull connection associated with said lever and secured at its rear end to -said brake operating means, thereby to operate the brake mechanism when the lever is moved rearwardly and leave the brake free to be operated by said hitch member when the lever is in its forward position.

5. A device as recited in claim l including, adjustable means adapted to prevent the rearward movement of the hitch member relative to the 5 stub pole until after a predetermined forward surge of the trailer is exerted.

6. A device as recited in claim 1 including, said connection to the brake mechanism having associated therewith a rope with its forward end secured to the pulling vehicle and means whereby if said hitch member becomes disconnected from the pulling vehicle, the pull of the rope will operate the toggle joint to engage the brakes and hold the brakes in their engaged position.

7. A device as recited in claim 6 including, a lever pivoted at its lower end to said stub pole and having a connection to the rear end ofV said spring and means whereby the spring will act to hold the lever in either its forward or rearward position, link connections to said means adapted to engage the brake on the trailer when the-lever is in its rear position and leave the brakes free REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,914,265 Legg June 13, 1933 2,048,788 Falknor July 28, 1936 

